


England Bludgered by Belgium

by nanceoir



Series: Quidditch Journalism [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Newspapers, Original Character(s), Post - Deathly Hallows, Quidditch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-11
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2018-01-01 03:29:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1039826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nanceoir/pseuds/nanceoir
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the run-up to the Quidditch World Cup, here are the results of the match between Belgium and England.</p>
            </blockquote>





	England Bludgered by Belgium

Nicolas Guillaume, captain and keeper for Belgium, said after the game, "We always expected to hold our own against England, but this is far beyond any of our expectations."

Indeed, the 820-point margin of victory is the largest point spread in over 500 years of the Quidditch World Cup. It is also the second-highest score difference in any recorded professional Quidditch match. The highest victory margin is, of course, the infamous 1867 match between the Chudley Cannons and the Quiberon Quafflepunchers, in which particularly nasty weather allowed the Snitch to evade capture for three days, during which time the Quafflepunchers took a beating; the Cannons eventually won the match 1180-130.

Despite being down during an early 40-0 England lead, Belgium's top chaser, Renate Peeters, proved her worth by scoring an impressive 37 goals in the first hour of the match. Guillaume blocked a combined 54 goal attempts, completely shutting England out during the game's last three-and-a-half hours.

Aside from the usual cuts and bruises, the match went without injury until the third hour. Daisy Simon, beater for England, hit a Bludger toward Vanya De Bruyn, Belgium's seeker. De Bruyn successfully swerved out of the Bludger's path, only to be run down by chaser Leslie Rutledge, who was making a mad dash for the goals. Both players remained sidelined for 20 minutes while mediwizards made sure they were fit to retake the field. Later, England's keeper Acker Amcotts took a Bludger directly to the shin but kept flying. De Bruyn caught the Snitch minutes later, and Amcotts was seen after the match hopping toward the mediwizards for care.

England's loss strikes a blow to English Quidditch tradition, as this is the first time they've failed to make the quarter-finals in over 300 years. "It was bound to happen sooner or later," Simon said. "We'd have preferred later, of course, not on our watch, but now the only thing to do is move forward to 2002."

As for Belgium, they face off against Ethiopia, who won against New Zealand, in the quarter-finals. Ranked well above Ethiopia, Belgium shouldn't have to worry. But, as Peeters pointed out, "We weren't supposed to do well against England. There's a long road between ourselves and the finals, so we have keep our focus and determination."


End file.
